Special ordered Tacoma made in Mexico?

I heard that the best Tacos are made in Mexico!!!

 

Land Cruisers must be the best for not having any variety

 

THIS! In a lot of engineering classes and at multiple large engineering companies I’ve worked for it is simply referred to as “the Toyota method”.

I’ve been in meetings where engineers get into screaming matches over the $0.05 vs the $0.06 bolt because the Toyota method scrutinizes little details to that level and it adds up over time. (It’s also why Toyota is so successful and such high quality).

They go to great lengths to streamline and speed up to the production line as much as possible. To the extreme that something like moving where a wrench is stored to save a motion or 0.5 seconds of production time is considered a substantial improvement.

True Custom orders would not fit into their production model at all and would just increase costs and lower quality with no benefit for Toyota.

I’ve also worked for a company that offered 100% custom ordered products made to customer specs (bicycles)... it was a huge headache and they are no longer in business as a result.

 

Yeah ok.. let me know when you can order a truck in allocation process and modify the FACTORY options

 

VWs suffer the same problem the ole Mexico vs. German built argument

Yet you look at the MK3 and MK4 both German and Mexican built and they both suffered the same quality issues

 

Right, but you can only choose the packages that they are going to make. You can’t demand a combination that they don’t make. They make 1000 of the same truck and u get 1 of them assigned to you.

 

He just wants extra guac! thats all!

 

If your vins start with a (3) its made in Mexico (5) made in Texas or maybe its the opposite but ye!

 

is there much of a price difference between what you have to pay compared to someone on the Mainland USA?

 

Please name such an option. I can tell you that distributor already had a truck that matched your need on order. They jus moved it on the schedule.
Custom order to me is, like I said, a hood scoop on an Offroad or a Limited wheel on a Sport. Can't be done from factory.

 

It's funny they say you can't order a Toyota but when we were having issues finding mine the Internet sales manager suggested the possibility of placing and "Order" for my truck. He used that word. Obviously you have to live with in the trims and options they make them in and you can't say where you want them to make it for you, texas v. Mexico. They will fit you in production as efficiently as they can. If that is an actual order or claiming and modifying an allocation I don't know. If it gets you what you want that's what matters.

 

factory options are such as premium, navigation and premium audio, led headlights, technology package.. you get the point. depending on what kinda buyer you are, not 100% of the vehicles in the work order are to your configurations. thats when they would have to submit a custom configuration vehicle in for approval, once approved you wait for your custom ordered vehicle.

 

Well you see, thats when the dealership would submit a custom configuration to your likings out for approval.

 

I understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone else does not agree.
Allocation is mixing and matching a predefined set of components and packages that Toyota distributors place on order everyday. They are allocated X number of those vehicles when they place their standard order every month.
Custom Order is when you can mix components and packages that are not offered. For example, TRD Pro suspension on a SR5. Or a TRD Pro with no fog lights. Or a SR with a technology package.

 

The whole allocation process is very well documented here on TW. There are no factory special or custom orders where a customer can pick and choose factory options. As said many times here - they make what they make, and those get sent to the regional distributors. In other words, as an extreme example, if the factory finishes making all the manual transmission Tacos they were going to make for a model year, and the dealers sold them all, you will not be able to get another one made by the factory. They are gone. You want JBL on your m/t? Impossible. There is no direct channel from dealer to factory. When you change an “order” what actually happens is that they go back and search the queue for the next available allocation that matches what you want - the truck you were getting before you changed doesn’t change, and the one that becomes your allocation doesn’t change.

The distributor (or port) is where your ability to customize comes into play. If an option is listed on the “accessories” tab of the configurator on the Toyota site, it is distributor installed, and when you “order” the distributor may be able to add those onto their pre-determined allocation, assuming they have an allocation for the trim and color combo you want. Some of those options are region specific based on the zip code you put in when you started on the Toyota site (shown in upper right corner of the page). So if you want Predator steps, order away. Depending on the dealer and distributor, you may be able to customize the accessories, or you may not. Anything on the other configurator tabs is decided by Toyota, so your “order” just means that distributor got the allocation that already was set up to what you wanted.

If you think that stealerships and salesman are being honest with you by telling you that your “factory special order” is all set up, well, that’s just adorable. An abject lie to help them sell you a truck, but adorable nonetheless. The ones telling their customers that Toyota doesn’t do custom factory orders are actually the honest ones.

All that said, what difference does it make if you end up getting what you want? Be happy! But all this is why some people have travelled across country to get exactly what they want, or faster than they would otherwise wait, from a different distributor/dealer. If factory special orders or “your build” were a thing, that would be largely unnecessary.

 

You want a surprise?

There was a report awhile back stating the Mexican Tacomas had better quality control

Soo


¡Viva Mexico Cabrones!

 

One toasty Taco with cheese please, hold the hot sauce. I’ll just wait...

 

Oh!

The way to tell if your truck is Messican or Texan...

Does the engine turn on in Spanish or English?

Does it do Mariachi scream or a Yeehaw?

 

The Texas ones also smell like mesquite smoked brisket and/or cow shit and/or oil.

 

That's because there were less robots/machines putting things together. More hands on by people equated to better quality control. Now the machines get out of calibration and 100 to 500 trucks slip through before they can get it corrected. These come with loose u bolts, under filled transmissions, loose spark plugs, loose heat shields and the numerous other issues that have arose.